The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Reported security incidents#1: Dozens of militants from Afghanistan crossed the
border into Pakistan and attacked a village on Thursday, Pakistani military
officials said, an incident likely to increase tensions between Islamabad and
Kabul.
Eight militants were killed in the ongoing skirmish in the tribal region of
Bajaur, officials said, and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded. Local military officials said the militants had taken up positions in the
village of Katkot in the Mamund area, and were surrounded by Pakistani
forces. "The militants attacked the village, focusing on government buildings.
Security forces have surrounded them and have called in gunship helicopters as
well, but are not resorting to heavy weapons because of the presence of
civilians," said Abdul Jabbar Shah, the top government official in Bajaur.#2: Gunmen on Thursday shot dead nine Pakistani police prison staff as they slept in Lahore, the second attack on security forces in the country's political heartland since Islamabad reopened a NATO supply corridor. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the dawn raid, in which gunmen stormed a hostel housing officers being trained from the troubled northwest. Punjab police chief Habibur Rehman said the attackers came on three motorcycles and one car, armed with Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades. They then stormed the building in the densely populated area of Ichra, where around 30 police prison staff were sleeping early Thursday. Police said nine other people were wounded, and the victims were shot as they slept on simple mats now soaked with blood.

#3: TWO Australian soldiers were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province on Tuesday. The soldiers, from the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment Task Group, were travelling in a Bushmaster armoured vehicle on the Deh Rawud region when the IED exploded. One soldier will likely return to Australia to recover from serious wounds, while the second soldier received only minor wounds.#4: Afghan national police during series of operations across the country have killed 13 anti-government militants and arrested five others, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Thursday. "Our police during operations in Nangarhar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Laghman and Kandahar provinces have killed 13 rebels and captured five others," the statement added.#5: According to local authorities in southern Helmand province an Afghan journalist reporter was killed following a roadside bomb blast in this province. Greshk district security chief Gen. Kali Khan confirming the report said Abdul Hadi Hamdard a reporter of local state Radio and Television was killed after his vehicle struck with a roadside bomb in this district. The incident took place at Ab-Bazan area in Greshk district on Wednesday night. Mr. Kali Khan further added at least one other was killed and two others were injured following the explosion. This comes as another Afghan reporter Samad Rohani who was working for BBC was killed in southern Greshk district.#6: According to local authorities in southern Kandahar province, at least 4 Afghan local police forces were killed and 2 others were injured in an attack by fellow soldiers in this province. A spokesman for 404 Afghan National Police Commandment in Southern Afghanistan Hekmatullah Kochi confirming the report said, two Afghan local police forces on Wednesday night opened fire on other local police forces killing at least 4 service members and injuring 2 others. Mr. Kochi further added the incident took place in Zherai district at Nawbahar area.